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A federal appeals court in Denver has reversed a lower
courtâs decision to deny Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.âs quest for an
injunction against part of the Affordable Care Act that requires it to
cover the cost of emergency contraceptives for some of its employees.

In
a 168-page ruling issued Thursday, the appellate court sent Hobby Lobby
case back to a lower court for further review. The panel of nine
appellate court judges who heard arguments in the case in May ruled
unanimously that Hobby Lobby and its affiliated Christian bookstore
chain Mardel have the right to sue over the Affordable Care Act. The
ruling is a blow to the federal governmentâs argument that as for-profit
corporations, the companies cannot claim that the health care law is a
violation of constitutionally protected religious freedoms. Five of the
nine judges found that Hobby Lobby meets at least part of the legal
standard to receive a temporary injunction against the health care law
while its lawsuit is ongoing. The other four judges said the company
fully meets the legal standard and that the appellate court should order
the lower court to grant the company an injunction.

Hobby Lobby could have paid as much as $1.3 million each day in fines
for refusing to pay for birth control or abortion-causing drugs under
the mandate.

In December, a two-judge panel of the 10th Circuit denied Hobby
Lobbyâs request to temporarily stop enforcement of the abortion pill
mandate. Now, nine 10th Circuit judges will hear Hobby Lobbyâs case.
Arguments are expected to take place this Spring.

The mandate would force the Christian-owned-and-operated company to
provide the âmorning-after pillâ and âweek-after pillâ in its health
insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to $1.3 million per day.

âThe Green family is disappointed with this ruling,â said Duncan.
âThey simply asked for a temporary halt to the mandate while their
appeal goes forward, and now they must seek relief from the United
States Supreme Court. The Greens will continue to make their case on
appeal that this unconstitutional mandate infringes their right to earn a
living while remaining true to their faith.â

Previously, the 10th Circuit judges denied the motion calling the religious burden to the Green family âindirect and attenuated.â

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western
District of Oklahoma and U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton issued a ruling
rejecting Hobby Lobbyâs request to block the mandate. Judge Heaton said
that the company doesnât qualify for an exemption because it is not a
church or religious group.

âPlaintiffs have not cited, and the court has not found, any case
concluding that secular, for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby and
Mardel have a constitutional right to the free exercise of religion,â
the ruling said.

Heaton wrote that âthe court is not unsympatheticâ to the companyâs
desire to not pay for abortion-causing drugs but he said the Obamacare
law âresults in concerns and issues not previously confronted by
companies or their owners.â

The appeals brief reads
in part: â[I]n less than six weeks, [the Green family] must either
violate their faith by covering abortion-causing drugs, or be exposed to
severe penaltiesâincluding fines of up to $1.3 million per day, annual
penalties of about $26 million and exposure to private suits.â

âThe district court accepted that the Green family engages in a
religious exercise by refusing to cover abortion-causing drugs in their
self-funded health plan. There was thus no question that the Green
family engages in âreligious exercise,ââ it adds. â[T]he Supreme Court
has long rejected any distinction between âdirectâ and âindirectâ
burdens in evaluating whether regulations infringe religious exercise.â

Duncan said the judgeâs decision did not question that the Green
family has sincere religious beliefs forbidding them from providing
abortion-causing drugs. The court ruled, however, that those beliefs
were only âindirectlyâ burdened by the mandateâs requirement that [Hobby
Lobby] provide free coverage for specific, abortion-inducing drugs in
[the companyâs] self-funded insurance plan.

The mandate has engendered strong opposition from pro-life groups and
Catholic and evangelical Christian companies that do not want to be
compelled to pay for drugs for employees that may cause abortions.

What abortion pill?? The morning after pill prevents pregnancy, it doesn't terminate them.

What is this company huffing and puffing about??

Let me think....you are anti-contraception, anti-abortion, anti-PA......yet call yourself pro-life? What do you think happens to all the kids born unwanted to incapable, resentful parents? What do you think their lives are like?

Well, it is a temporary restraining order. It will be interesting to see the conclusion of this. I don't agree with Hobby Lobby. They are an arts and crafts company and I don't care what their founder believes. I get that they don't want the date rape medication or to pay for contraception or sterilization procedures, but I don't think corporations should have a say in their employees' medical decisions. This is not a small sole proprietorship.

What abortion pill?? The morning after pill prevents pregnancy, it doesn't terminate them.

What is this company huffing and puffing about??

Let me think....you are anti-contraception, anti-abortion, anti-PA......yet call yourself pro-life? What do you think happens to all the kids born unwanted to incapable, resentful parents? What do you think their lives are like?

None of that matters to them. They just want to jump up and down, stomp their feet and say they have won.

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